Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 302



Only Noblemtl

302 Limits

Two World Cup group stage exits.

And in the third World Cup, they advanced beyond the group stage to the quarterfinals.

Unlike the previous World Cups where they showed overwhelming performances, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals, which was disappointing, and they actually lost in a penalty shootout, so they wondered what would have happened if they had done this or that, but Sophie decided not to worry about it anymore.

Germany was defeated by Brazil, but now Korea remains.

The semifinals between Korea and Brazil.

Naturally, Sophie watched the game.

I couldn’t get it to the US, but I could at least watch it in Germany.

In Germany, the game was viewed very objectively from an observer’s perspective.

Korea and Brazil.

Both countries were a source of both pain and glory for Germany.

In 2002, Germany defeated Korea and advanced to the finals. Germany, which had the stigma of being a rusty tank, eventually lost to Brazil and finished as runner-up, but received praise from many for its performance that exceeded expectations.

And then, 16 years later, in 2018, the tragedy of Kazan occurred, with Germany losing 2-0 to Korea. The pain of Germany’s status plummeting to the ground occurred.

Brazil was similar.

In 2002, they won the championship by beating us, in 2014, they beat Brazil with an improbable 7-1 victory, and then they even beat Argentina to win the championship.

And in this World Cup, Germany lost in the end.

Both countries were truly intricately intertwined when it came to the World Cup.

[Korea will win in the end. Think about how Kim promoted Hannover and won the Bundesliga. Korea is in the same position as Hannover in the Bundesliga right now.]

There was a lot of debate, but the overall opinion was that Korea would win.

Sophie wanted that too.

Since Brazil beat us, I wish Korea would get revenge.

And I watched the game, and honestly, the first half was very unexpected.

[Korea is pushing Brazil. Who would have expected that? The world-class Brazil is being pushed back by Korea!]

The underdog’s rebellion.

In the semifinals, Korea dominated Brazil in a completely different way than they had in the quarterfinals. It was an unbelievable performance.

Sophie was cheering and cheering for Korea, and although no goal had been scored yet, she had a small hope that if things continued this way, Korea might score first.

And the second half.

Brazil finally came to its senses and shook Korea with both hands. An uneasy scene was created.

Kim Min-woo’s penalty kick save was a sign of things to come.

The second half was completely reversed, with Brazil beating up Korea.

And every time I thought, ‘Ah, this is gone,’ Kim Min-woo showed off his dazzling saves like when he was in Hannover.

Every time that happened, the family members who were watching the game together, including Sophie, would scream or jump up from their seats.

The defense was that overwhelming.

Even the people from third countries watching were dumbfounded.

“Old memories are so vivid, really. Ah. If Kim had stayed in Hannover, we would have won the Champions League again, right?”

My little brother’s remarks.

Putting aside my usual dislike of it, it was a perfectly reasonable thought. If it had happened, Hanover would have gotten the Big Ears anyway. It would have been an incredibly cool scene… .

But he left. Ugh.

The second half was just a series of Korean hits and hits. Before we knew it, the second half was almost over and it was extra time.

The extra time was about 4 minutes.

And the second half 45+3 minutes.

Free kick from Brazil.

It is not a place where you can hit directly, but rather a space that is far to the side, so it is strongly predicted that a cross will be made.

Sophie sat on the sofa, staring blankly.

Anyway, if it’s an attack of this level, Kim Min-woo will easily block it. Or other defenders will kick it away.

As time goes by, it will probably go into overtime.

Sophie looked at him with that thought in her mind.

And then Brazil’s cross comes in, and Jesus heads it.

As expected, Kim Min-woo struck out.

And Neymar’s second header, rushing in, goes into the goal.

what?!

Sophie opened her eyes wide in surprise and sat up. D, d, d, you went in?!

The commentators who were relaying the news were so surprised that they raised the decibel level at the top of their voices.

[Eeeeeeeeeeeeek! Brazil! Neymar! Dramatic winning goal! It went in! It went in!]

[Kim’s first goal, which had not been broken even once since his debut, is broken for the first time by Neymar!]

[Brazil scores a dramatic goal with 1 minute left in the second half! Brazil will advance to the final!]

Even though I was watching it on screen, the stadium was shaking.

The sound of the broadcast was drowned out by the noise of the crowd.

Neymar’s header went clear into the goal.

[Kim concedes a goal in this situation! He blocks Jesus’ first header, and reaches out to block Neymar’s second header, but Neymar is faster! Ah! This is how it goes!]

[There’s not enough time for Korea to score an equalizer. Aaaah! Brazil will advance to the final for the first time since 2002!]

[Korea is once again unable to overcome the pain of 4 years ago and is eliminated by Brazil! It is the best result since 2002, but fairy tales do not happen! It is time for Korea to go home!]

“Eww! Nooooooooooooo!”

Sophie jumped up, unable to believe this reality. Then she collapsed in shock. Her head was spinning due to the sudden rush of blood… .

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh.”

Kim Min-woo, who was always as strong as a mountain, has collapsed like this…

That too with just one minute left in the game.

It was so sad. The screen showed a close-up of Kim Min-woo’s stern expression. He was biting his lip and his face was filled with sorrow.

[Kim can’t believe this reality! Kim has been solid in preventing goals against Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Dortmund, Liverpool, and many other prestigious teams from England and Germany, but in the end, he couldn’t beat Brazil!]

[France, Argentina, whoever it is, just wait! The final opponent of this World Cup is Brazil!]

Sophie wasn’t the only one who couldn’t believe Kim Min-woo’s first goal. The whole family also had shocked expressions on their faces and said something.

Kim conceded a goal, this day has come, I can’t believe it, things like that.

Sophie sighed and covered her face with her hands. It was a reality that was hard to accept. What a result. The first goal was conceded just before the end of the game.

“What on earth do Korean defenders do that they can’t mark something like that!”

Sophie was angry for no reason, but nothing changed. Neymar finished off Korea, and now Korea’s journey was over.

As I sigh and look up at the ceiling, I suddenly feel the announcer’s voice subtly change.

[Hmm?]

[Wait a minute! Wait a minute! The referee puts his hand to his ear!]

[The atmosphere is getting weird again. The referee’s expression is serious!]

[Is it VAR? Is the goal ruled out? Will Kim’s first goal ever be cancelled!?]

Sophie jumped up from her seat at those words, folded her hands, and begged.

“Please. Please! Jebaaaaaaaal!”

Kim Min-woo should remain scoreless until the day he retires. Sophie wanted that to happen. She never wanted to see her man so sad and shocked again.

And the scoring scene is replayed.

The scoring scene is played in very slow motion.

[Ugh, this scene is a bit subtle.]

[Was Neymar a little ahead? I don’t know.]

[It seems like it’s almost on the same line. Now is the time for semi-automatic offside judgment technology to shine. Let’s see if the advancement of technology can prevent Kim’s first goal.]

And then back to the Brazilian players. They all had expressions that seemed to be burning their butts. Neymar, in particular, was chewing his lips after scoring.

The referee spoke to the video assistant referees for quite some time.

“Please! Please! Just look at VAR! Please!”

It felt like an eternity. It was so long. At this moment, billions of people were waiting for the referee’s next decision.

And the referee’s decision.

Beep!

He stretched out his hand and blew the whistle.

First of all, it meant that they would look at VAR.

“Wheww!”

However, even after watching the replay video, it was ambiguous whether it was offside or not, so I still couldn’t feel at ease.

And then the replay scene comes out again.

[Now. This is modern technology that shows down to 1 nanometer. Neymar… … .]

State-of-the-art interpretation technology is used to precisely analyse Neymar’s movements, and it shows that Neymar was slightly ahead, very, very minutely.

[They were ahead! Neymar was ahead by a tiny margin! If the decision is correct, this goal is disallowed!]

[Kim almost died! But the referee’s decision hasn’t come out yet.]

The referee took a very long time to review the video. It was an eternity, an eternity.

And the referee… … .

Beep!

[The referee calls the goal off! Kim’s clean sheet continues!]

[The score remains 0:0! Brazil’s goal has been cancelled!]

“Whaaaaaah!”

Sophie was so happy that she ripped out all her brother’s hair. Her brother swore at her but it didn’t matter. The score was 0:0 again! The game was going into overtime!

* * *

“I almost got screwed.”

Neymar’s goal was so dizzying that it felt like the sky was falling down. He knew it, he reacted, but he was a little slow. Really just a little.

It seemed like his body was tired from playing full-time in every match starting from the group stage.

Even though goalkeepers have less of a physical burden than other positions, if you keep going without resting, you will inevitably experience physical strain.

Plus, the US is so vast. After playing one game and taking a plane to and from base camp several times, it seemed like my body was slowly accumulating damage.

Otherwise there is no reason why Neymar’s header couldn’t be stopped.

Fortunately, Neymar’s header was ruled offside (thank goodness), and the game almost ended that way, but we earned one more coin.

Brazil was a strong country.

Even I, the best in the world, am an opponent who loses points if I am even slightly slow.

And now the game has entered overtime.

The overtime period turned into a slugfest under Leon’s leadership.

If the game goes into overtime, both countries will lose their stamina to the point where their defensive concentration will decline and their tactical understanding will not be as good as in the first half.

That’s why goalkeepers really have to focus during this time, because there is no other time when goals are scored as easily as during overtime.

‘Junyoung. Please do it…’

I fed you, raised you, and did everything for you. Pay for the food! How long are you going to be the only one doing it?

And as if they had heard that prayer, the attacking force responded.

It was a long pass from Kim Min-je. Son Heung-min received it from the side, ran straight, and crossed the ball near the corner kick flag.

Because it was a counterattack during Brazil’s attack, the number of defenders was at most 2 or 3.

And Son Heung-min’s cross hits Kim Jun-young’s head right in the eye.

Super header!

And then Alison flew in and blocked it… .

“Fuck.”

Kim Jun-young collapses on the ground, catching his breath, feeling so sorry.

Next, as expected, was Brazil’s attack. A cross from inside the box. I flew in like Alisson and blocked it.

The ball hit my hand and went out of the box, where Joao Gomez received it and immediately hit it.

And the shot deflects off Kim Ji-seok’s leg. I block that deflected shot again… .

‘Ah. I think I’m reaching my limit now.’

As I kept blocking it, my head started to burn and it was difficult to maintain my sanity.

I passed the early part of the extra period without thinking, and somehow managed to stop the second half of the extra period when the brawl started again.

Both countries had a lot of shots, but no decisive shots came.

For that, both Nana and Alisson did really well.

If this strict flow continues, there is only one thing left: a head-on confrontation.

Beep— beep— beep!

The referee blew the whistle to signal the end of extra time. It was now time for a penalty shootout.

It’s an area I’m really confident in, but, well, I was mentally shaken and didn’t have as much confidence as I did during the match against Spain.

Just. Just doing it.

I gulped down the water with a deep sigh.

‘I’ve never smoked before, but I feel like smoking… .’

Before the penalty shootout, we gathered in a circle and someone was saying something, but honestly, I didn’t hear a thing. I just wanted the penalty shootout to end quickly and I could rest.

“Brother? Are you okay?”

Kim Jun-young came over and asked me that after checking my appearance. I looked at Jun-young and said.

“Junyoung. Why does today feel so long?”

“… … Brother. Just endure it a little longer. Just a little longer.”

“Kukukuk.”

I laughed so hard it was ridiculous.

Just give me a little more.

I shut my eyes tightly and shook my head vigorously. Then I came to my senses and nodded.

“Okay, fuck. Let’s go, Junyoung. I’ll do a little more.”